Crush Vision

Chapter 1

     I take a tray from the pile and step into the lunch line. Jacob slides in next to me and grabs a carton of milk.

     "About time you showed up," he says, snatching an apple out of a nearby basket. "Everyone else is already waiting outside." He tosses it back and forth in his hands.

     "Oh, really?" I scan the food choices and eventually settle on a pre-wrapped sandwich. "Emmy usually waits by the door."

     "Must've brought lunch today," Jacob says through a mouthful of fruit. The lunch lady at the register shoots him a nasty look as he takes another bite.

     I laugh and punch in my code. "Hungry, much?"

     He swallows. "What, and you're not?"

     I glance at my food; I'd decided to skip out on a lot of the extras. "Well, I'm in a hurry. I wanna get out there before lunch ends."

     "Or you just want to see Emmy." Jacob snorts.

     I elbow him in the side, my cheeks warming. "Shut up."

     He laughs, and I head to the door before he can say anything else about it.

     It takes a second for me to get my bearings in the bright sunlight. I blink and squint until I can see. Groups of students spread across the grass, but I don't pay attention to any of them. I head straight for a line of trees, the same spot I've been going to for over a year. Emmy's head bobs in the distance. She sees me and waves.

     "Hey, Henry! Over here!" Her arm stretches into the air as she rises up on her knees, her jacket falling off her lap. She's got a big smile on her face, and I quicken my steps to see what it's about.

    I take a seat next to her and unwrap my sandwich. "So you brought your lunch today?"

     Emmy grins. "Yep! I was visiting my grandma this weekend, so I thought—"

    "Emmy brought cookies!" Her best friend squeals, pointing to a plastic container.

     "And as you can probably tell, Hannah's already had three." Emmy laughs.

     Hannah holds up her hands in defense. "Well, they're really good!"

     Emmy pries off the lid and offers one to me. "Wanna try one? I made them almost all on my own!"

     "Sure." I reach in the container just as Jacob comes up and sticks his hand in. "Oooh, cookies, nice!"

     "Sheesh man, leave some for the rest of us." Our friend Troy grins and strolls over, carrying a soccer ball.

He stands by his sister, who gives him a look. "That's rich coming from you—you've had what, four or five?"

     "Oh come on, De-LAME-y." Troy bounces the soccer ball over his head.

     Delaney rolls her eyes. "That joke gets less and less funny every time."

      Emmy giggles. "It's fine; I made tons." She takes out another for herself and passes a second one to me.

     "Thanks."

     Jacob and Troy run off with the ball to start a game. The girls watch them kick it around for a few minutes. My sandwich soon disappears.

     "You made some pretty good cookies, Emmy," Delaney says. Hannah and I nod in agreement.

     Emmy beams. "Yay! I'm glad you guys like them." She stretches and leans back on her hands. "Y'know, we should do stuff like this more oft—"

     Suddenly, something comes flying towards us out of nowhere. Hannah shrieks, diving towards the grass. Emmy flings her arms over her head as Delaney flinches. The soccer ball bounces off the tree trunk and rolls back down the hill, almost before I can blink.

     Troy grabs the ball and grins sheepishly. Delaney shakes her head. He starts to walk back over to us, but a teacher calls out to him and he freezes. "Tie your shoe, young man!"

     I look to see only a sock covering his left foot. Troy glances around. "Yes, Mrs. Evans!"

He plops down. "Where's my shoe?"

    Hannah shrugs and Delaney sighs. "Honestly Troy, you act like you're in the fifth grade."

     "Firth grade? Nah, I was way worse. No chill," he scoffs. "Man, I could not sit still back then!"

     He bounces the ball as Jacob comes up the hill, carrying the missing shoe. "Back then? You can barely sit still now."

     "He does have a point," Emmy admits, and we all laugh. Troy gets up and takes his shoe. "Oh, hey, I was looking for that."

     We start cleaning up our lunch as the bell rings. Delaney brushes off her skirt in a rush. "Come on; we'll be late to Biology!"

     "No we won't!" Hannah calls back and runs after her.

     Jacob gives me a look as Troy passes him the ball. Emmy and I are the last to leave.

     She turns to me. "Are you going to the church barbecue this weekend?"

     "Oh, y-yeah," I stammer. "Free food, why not?"

     She grins. "Yay, then we can hang out!"

     We head back inside. "Yep." Ugh, why is it suddenly so much harder to talk to her?!

     She pauses by the door, and I stop, trying to think of something to say. "Uh, well..see ya Sunday."

     Emmy raises her eyebrow. "Henry, did you forget? We ride the same bus home." She swings her bag over her shoulder and walks down the hall. "I'll see you after school!"

     "Y-yeah!" Did my voice just crack?! My stomach's doing backflips. I look at the clock. Crap, I'm gonna be late!

     I launch into a sprint and dash in the opposite direction. If they don't catch me running, I can make it. The bell rings barely a second after my classroom door swings shut behind me. I walk over to my desk as a few people turn their heads my way, panting.

     Sheesh. I stare out the window, where our tree sits in the distance. I think of Emmy's smiling face. Hope she got to class on time...

Author's Note: Hi, everyone! I took a chance in posting this story, so I hope you'll enjoy reading it, and hope you liked the first chapter! See you next week!